SO the die is cast!
August 23 2023 is Zimbabwe’s date with destiny as all registered voters will put pen to paper, electing the country’s President, House of Assembly members and Councillors.
However, as we go to the polls, lest we forget.
Let us have the liberation struggle at the back of our minds.
Let us remember that the liberation war was bitter and brutal hence the need to safeguard our God-given land.
Let us ask ourselves pertinent questions:
Did we have an option?
To fight or not to fight?
We did not, there was no option.
The objectives of the liberation war, above all, were to reclaim our stolen land, desire for self-governance and recovery of our identity as a people.
These goals lived with us and they were always spelt out during the 21 days of orientation at training camps and emphasised every time vanamukoma engaged the masses.
To date, we place great importance on our land because, as Chairman Herbert Chitepo said: “…it is the basis of our existence.”
Everything else follows from what we get and do on the land.
That is why we say cadres are right when they say:
“We died for this country.”
We did not go into the liberation war half-heartedly.
We went into it mind and spirit together and we confronted the enemy head on.
Persistence in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges defined that generation which ensured we achieved independence – the independence some in our midst take for granted.
War veterans are a generation which followed a vision until it came to pass.
It was a company that was not deterred.
That is why we make no apologies for taking back our land and implementing policies to uplift locals, especially as we strive towards achieving an upper-middle income economy by 2030 as well as food security countrywide.
Yes, food security matters.
In fact, some of us have never forgotten the pangs of hunger in the camps during the liberation struggle and now that we self-govern, there is need for self-sufficiency.
A nation cannot realise its full potential if it is not food-secure.
And to realise the goals of the war of liberation, we need a vibrant youth in control of its destiny – youth free from drug and substance abuse.
The youth must look back at the ethics and values that guided the liberation war as espoused in the ‘eight points of attention’.
They must exhibit the work ethic and spirit of sacrifice that was found in our liberation war heroes and heroines.
As Zimbabweans and as we go to the polls in August, we must defend the ideals of the liberation struggle.
When we say: “We died for this country,” we express a message from our fallen heroes.
We speak on behalf of thousands who never lived to tell their story.
Therefore, let us always and forever observe the basic tenets of hunhu/ubuntu that have shaped our discourse which the West has not stopped trying to hijack and redefine, for its benefit.
It has always been said that leaders must lead; must be exemplary and be the vanguard in the battle to protect and preserve our sovereignty and cultural values.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been exemplary.
He continues to deliver and walk the talk.
Therefore, let us vote wisely come August.
